Heart of Anxiety
by Oerba Dia Kiri-Ki
Summary: Serah has finally gotten married, but Lightning feels a sense of loss now that her younger sister has grown up. Can she find a way to cope with her feelings of loneliness, or will she end up shutting herself off from the people who care most? FangRai/FLight.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes**: This started as a requested prompt: Lightning shows up to Fang's home drunk. However, after thinking on if for a few days, I've figured a pretty decent plot for a story.. So instead of keeping this a one shot, it'll be expanded and hopefully this fact alone will please some people~

**Disclaimer**: As usual, I do not own Lightning Farron, Yun Fang, or anything else related to Final Fantasy XIII.

* * *

It was the day after Serah's wedding, and the weather had gone from completely sunny and cloudless, to grey and filled with torrential showers; ironically fitting, and easily matched the eldest Farron's mood of the last 20 hour period. Lightning hadn't slept the previous night, having been too busy being plagued with her thoughts that bombarded her at every turn. At some point in the night she had gotten fed up with the silence in her home, and in a last ditch effort to get her mind off things, pulled on her boots and stormed out the front door into the rainy night.

At first there was no real destination set in Lightning's mind, as she was doing all she could to keep herself from thinking. The sounds of her heavy steps on cobblestone were drowned out by the howling wind, alongside the rain pelting against her skin that stung like thin needles. Only a few others were out and about at this time of night, though all had some sort of protection from the icy cold rain. If she had been in her right mind, the soldier would have thought to grab an umbrella - or _something_ - to provide adequate cover. Then again, getting sick was one of the last things on Lightning's mind right now, and even if she did… Well, she'd suck it up and deal with it later.

Azure eyes were kept low, staring at the road as her feet pushed her further along it's length. Lightning lost track of the time easily enough, and before she knew it she found herself standing outside the doors of the _NORA_ bar. She hesitated, if only for a brief moment, and peered inside. Lebreau was there, as usual, and there were only a handful of people scattered around the various tables and booths.

A gloved hand pressed against the cold surface of the door, while her mind was reeling with what few options she had right now. Lightning didn't _want_ to be in the rain anymore; strawberry blonde strands were soaked and clung to the skin of her neck, not to mention her uniform was just as drenched if not more. But _Etro_, did a drink sound nice right now - provided it could numb away all the nagging thoughts at the back of her head. Inhaling slowly, Lightning pushed open the door and forced a tiny smile onto her face when the barmaid looked up from the glass she was cleaning.

"—_Lightning_? It's rare to see you out and about this late at night.." Lebreau stared hard, looking the soldier up and down and pursing her lips. Lightning looked like shit, but the woman wasn't sure if tonight was the night to be prodding the Farron. It wasn't hard to tell Lightning was tense, and while Lebreau wasn't sure what prompted the roseate from her home so late, she knew there was one thing she could do. "The usual, I take it?"

Lightning didn't even bother responding, and instead just nodded her head slightly as she moved to take a seat on one of the many stools in front of the bar counter. Beryl hues traced the patterns etched into it's surface, until she grew bored of that and lifted her gaze to focus on Lebreau. Busying herself in sorting through her stash of alcohol, Lebreau didn't seem to notice how the soldier had fixated her gaze onto her back. "_So_.." She spoke up, after finally finding the right bottle that was specially reserved for one Lightning Farron. It was actually the barmaid's own concoction, and one that only Lightning had seemed to enjoy oddly enough. The thing was potent though; more so than practically everything else she had to offer at the bar. "Some weather we're having, huh?" Lebreau asked, hoping to start up some sort of conversation with Lightning to ease the tension bristling in the air.

"—Yeah, tell me about it." Lightning quipped, turning her head so her gaze would land on the window a couple feet away. The glass itself seemed to vibrate against it's frame, with the wind and rain buffeting against it relentlessly.

"It's funny how fast things change around here, huh? Just yesterday everything was so nice and sunny, but now it's all bleary.. Thankfully the wedding went on without a hitch." Lebreau sighed in relief, though missing the way Lightning twitched at the sudden change of topic. Serah getting married was _not_ the thing she wanting to be reminded about, not right now. All the soldier gave in response was a soft grunt, keeping her gaze peeled to that window.

In truth she was happy for her sister, and Lightning knew there was no one better suited for her than Snow, even if his Hero complex was annoying as hell. Serah was happy, and so she was happy. Or rather, Lightning _thought_ she had been.. But as the wedding had dragged on, and even through the reception afterwards, a realization had dawned on her and at the first opportunity she could get, Lightning had snuck out and gone home. Her nose crinkled up, brows knitting together as that sensation from the other day resurfaced in her chest; the empty, hollow feeling she detested so much.

Just as she was about to get lost in her thoughts, Lebreau - thankfully, at that - placed a glass full of her special vodka mixture in front of her. Without a word, Lightning grasped it in her hands, fingers playing over the side of the glass before bringing it up to her lips; downing it in one go. The burning that seared through her throat was a welcome feeling, and the barmaid was already prepared to give her a refill the moment the now emptied glass hit the counter with a _clink_.

**##########**

Nearly two hours later, and only after having consumed enough alcohol to knock a behemoth off it's feet - probably even enough to _kill_ one - did Lightning stagger outside through the bar's entrance. Lebreau had argued with her, but had failed miserably in keeping the intoxicated Farron from leaving - or at least waiting for someone to come around to make sure she got home safely. And the moment she had turned her back from Lightning, the soldier had snatched what was left of the bottle of alcohol and showed herself out.

The storm from earlier had passed though, despite the faint rumbling of thunder still audible in the distance. As Lightning stumbled her way back down the paved road towards her home, inwardly she mused that at least she couldn't get any more soaked than she already was. Canting her head, she spit - rather sloppily at that - and brought the bottle of booze back up towards faded peach lips to down more of it's contents. A more sober Lightning would have wondered what the hell she was doing, getting drunk off her ass and wandering down the streets of New Bodhum alone. But right now nothing seemed to matter to her; it hurt too think too much, it hurt even more to be in her own home that was now empty save for her own things.

Gadot and the rest of the NORA members had come by a few days before the wedding had even taken place, and went about removing her sister's possessions so they could be moved into Snow's new house. _Etro_ how she hated that man right now, not being content until his wife was living with him and away from the only other family she had left.

Cursing his name under her breath, Lightning misstepped and nearly went falling into the road, though by some feat of sure willpower - or perhaps the essence that still flowed in her veins from being a l'cie - she had caught herself in time. An exasperated sigh fell from her mouth, and her gaze lifted from the cobblestone up towards the stretch of road that went through the center of town; and namely her own home.

She didn't want to be there.

Didn't _want_ to be alone.

Her head pounded with the rush of thoughts now flooding it, but there was one place - _one person_ - she felt the need to see, drunk or not. Someone who had always been there for her, bitchy ice queen attitude and everything.

_Fang._

The pulsian's name was merely a whisper on Lightning's lip, as azure eyes glanced around for the familiar path that would take her to the outskirts of town. She had never understood why the brunette had steered clear from staying in the town itself, as most of the cocoonians saw her as a hero - along with the rest of their motley l'cie crew. Then again, being a native of Pulse probably had something to do with her decision. It wasn't so easy to put the past behind you, especially when thousands of people had wanted you _dead_ only a few months before.

Stifling a half-hearted laugh at the irony of it all, Lightning finally managed to catch sight of the way leading out of town. A brief pause was used to make sure no one was coming, before crossing over to the other side of the road and turning down the dirt path.

**##########**

Leaning against the wall next to the pulsian's front door, Lightning had to stop to catch her breath from the near hike she had to take. Why the hell did Fang feel the need to live up the hill again? Etro be damned, she was lucky to even have made it this far without falling over in her drunken stupor.

Shifting a gloved hand up, the soldier mustered enough energy to knock on the wooden door while praying the woman was still up. "—_Faaaaang_.." Her companion's name was drawn out, and for good reason. Lightning _wanted_ to be heard, and let inside already as she could feel her legs would give out on her relatively soon.

Inside, emerald eyes stared at her door from where she was sitting in the kitchen, chair leaned back and everything as her gaze refused to budge from the wooden structure. Her mind had to be playing games on her, it just had to be. There was _no_ way Lightning of all people would be knocking on her door at nearly two in the morning. The huntress strained her ears to listen more carefully, and not even a moment later more knocking rocked the door's foundation. "—_Fang_! Lemme in damn it." A silence fell then, before shuffling could be heard followed by a loud sigh. "…It's cold out here."

Fang shoved herself away from the table and out of her seat, and slowly walked over to the door. Pulling it open, she peered out into the darkness. At first she couldn't even see anyone, and nearly turned around to go back inside when the pink of Lightning's hair caught her attention. Fang raised a brow at the sight; _the_ Lightning Farron, back shoved up against the front of her house with legs folded and held up against her chest. Well, at least she wasn't lying about being cold. The pulsian could tell from the few droplets of water they fell from her sleeves, that the soldier's entire outfit was sopping wet.

"Light? The _hell_ ya doin' out here at this time of night?" Fang questioned, kneeling down so she could be eye level with the roseate. "—I don't… just… Can I come inside?" Lightning struggled with making her words as unslurred as possible, not wanting to look weak in front of Fang of all people. Jade hues studied the soldier for a minute, trying to figure out why Lightning was acting so funny. She couldn't just _leave_ her outside all night though, so with a soft sigh did Fang help her friend onto her feet. She was a hell of a lot heavier than she looked, or was it just the added weight of the water that bogged her down? Fang didn't know, and didn't care. Hoisting Lightning up a bit more, she felt the soldier's arm snake around her neck to keep her steady against her. "C'mon.. Let's get ya inside before I change my mind."

She sure as _hell_ didn't know what to think of this situation, but before her mind could wander any farther, a loud clacking of a bottle hitting the ground caught her attention. Fang thought about reaching down and inspecting it, but with Lightning whining about being wet and cold in her ear she decided against it for now. "—Watch ya step, Sunshine." She mumbled, while leading Lightning inside and towards the couch in the front room. The soldier eagerly sunk into the cushions once there, and didn't look like she'd get up for anything on Pulse.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Fang took a deep breath before leaving Lightning's side and disappearing down the hall. Letting her stay in those wet clothes would be the worst mistake she could make, and while she didn't have regular cocoonian pajamas like everyone else seemed to have… Fang did have a pair of extra knee-length black shorts, and a plain white shirt. She brought them out from the confines of her room, and returned to the soldier's side at the sofa. Staring down at Lightning, Fang couldn't help but frown. "Here, Light. Get out of those wet clothes, before ya caught ya death from a cold, or worse." Her tone was stern, but oddly Lightning didn't resist when she was handed the bundle of clothing.

Turning her back from her friend, Fang made her way back outside and bent over to pick up the discarded bottle. It was just an ordinary bottle, and she assumed it was from Lebreau's bar, just because she was one of the only people with a supply as large as hers. But what really caught Fang's attention was the label pasted onto the side, with the barmaid's handwriting scribbled neatly on it. Glancing over the note with ease, it took a moment for the details to actually sink in and register in her mind.

Fang's face went pale, and the only thing she felt now was complete and utter shock at what Lightning had been consuming. _Sweet Fal'Cies_, by all means the soldier _should_ have been passed out somewhere a long time ago, or even _dead_ depending on how much of the stuff she had drank by herself. Fang was going to kill Lebreau, or at least maim her for this later once she saw to Lightning getting better. The bottle was tossed back to the ground, and the door of her home practically slammed in her annoyance that Lightning - _Lightning_ of all people possible - had drank herself into this state. But what the hell had caused it?

Jade eyes narrowed as she looked towards her couch, where the already changed Lightning was having a hard time sitting up straight where she sat. Moving over and flopping on the piece of furniture with her, Fang leaned into the sofa's opposite side and stared hard at Lightning.

"Light?"

"Fang, no, I don—"

"What in Orphan's name were ya doin', huh? Drinkin' all _that_.. Hell, I'm surprised ya even able to talk at all." Fang cut her off with a huff, though inwardly she couldn't help but wonder why she was attracted to this woman. Her thoughts turned to their days traveling as l'cies together, and all the times she had stopped just to look at Lightning and realized what a damned good fighter she was. Strong, quick on her feet, witty, and had a piercing gaze that never failed to turn her into a blus— oh, _right_. _That_ was why. Out of everything she adored about this woman, her eyes were what stood out the most to Fang. Just a passing glance, a moment of eye contact, was all it took to send chills down her spine. And yet right now, the fierce proudness that once shone behind sapphire eyes was no longer there. She had never seen Lightning like this before, and frankly hoped it would be the first and last time.

"Talk to me, Light." Fang paused, reaching out to gently squeeze Lightning's shoulder. "I know ya came here for a reason, otherwise ya wouldn't be soaked to the bone, and drunk on top of that."

"Serah… She's_ gone_." Lightning barely managed to whisper. Fang raised a brow, a little confused as to what the woman was getting at. "Uh, yeah? She _did_ get married to the big guy yesterday.." Her voice trailed off, noticing how the soldier's skin was trembling. "Ligh—"

The Farron cut her off this time, her head turning with blue orbs meeting Fang's own pair of green eyes. "The _wedding_, Fang." The pulsian was a little taken back by the tone of her voice, and just went quiet so Lightning could speak her mind.

"Yesterday… It was so beautiful. Serah looked so happy walking down the aisle to Snow… Not sure I've ever seen her smile that way either." Lightning spoke softly, her lips twitching upwards by a margin into a faint smile. "I know Snow will take care of her, there's no question in my mind about that, but.." She fell silent, searching for the right words to convey her feelings to the brunette next to her. "—It _hurts_, Fang.. _So much_."

"What does?" Fang asked, blinking a few times and not understanding why the biggest day of her sister's life was bothering her so much.

"She's grown up… Serah doesn't need her elder sister anymore, now that she's married to Snow. At first it didn't bother me… But during the reception? When Snow made that whole big speech over _always_ being at her side; protecting her, being her rock to lean on when things got tough.. All of that. It hit me, _hard_… The job of looking over Serah has passed onto Snow - _away from me_ - and now that it has… I don't have anything left." Lightning's gaze dropped to her hands, which were fumbling together in her lap.

"—My duty was always to Serah; keeping her safe, and watching over her in our parents place.. But now that's it not, I'm at a loss for what to do. I know I should find something to fill that gap -_ anything_ to fill it - but I don't where to start looking… How can you so easily replace something you've held onto for all these years? What do I have left, Fang? Other than this empty feeling inside me?"

Lightning finally looked back up towards Fang, and the pulsian was anything but prepared to meet that tear-stained face. "Light.. C'mere.." She murmured, gently pulling the roseate towards her and embracing her. "Ya still have lots of things, Sunshine. Even if Serah is busy with her own new life, there's still Hope, the old man, and Vanille… Ya know they care about ya, Lightning. And..—" Fang bit at her lower lip, unsure of how Lightning would take her next choice of words. "—…Ya still have _me_ too." Etro knew Fang wanted to say more, to throw everything she felt out there and hope it would somehow ease the hurt Lightning was feeling. But she cursed at every possible deity, eidolon, and Fal'Cie she knew off, because right now just wasn't the time for that.

She exhaled slowly, but gradually leaned more into the huntress' side. Lightning was at a loss for words, simply put. Of course she knew she still had her friends, but even in knowing that it didn't lessen the loneliness she felt gnawing at her core. She wanted something more. Something to fully replace what was gone.. If her sister could get a happily ever after, then wasn't she allowed to have one as well?

Losing herself to her thoughts, Lightning's alcohol ridden mind didn't have the chance to process the fact her body was fully pressed into Fang's now. The warmth radiating off the pulsian was intoxicating in it's own way, and her body reacted instantly as the coldness was washed away. Eventually the closeness she now shared with her comrade clicked somewhere in the back of her mind, and she shifted slightly. Eyes closed, and Lightning leaned forward to nuzzle her face into the crook of Fang's neck, finding an odd sort of comfort from being in contact with her.

In a sort of daze from what was happening, Fang remained stiff against the soldier's form - not sure on the right course of action. She couldn't deny how nice Lightning's breath felt against the exposed skin, even if it was laced heavily with the scent of alcohol and made her nose scrunch up. Fang's body eventually went slack, giving in and relaxing as Lightning's weight pushed into her side.

Seconds passed, turning into minutes, and eventually it felt like an eternity had passed before Lightning finally broke the silence. "—_Fang_?" The pulsian twitched, a faint blush dusting her cheeks as she tried to contain herself. _Merciful Odin, don't say my name like that again.. This is too much. The hell am I supposed to do?_ Fang opened her mouth to speak, though was vaguely aware of how dry it had become. She swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of her throat, and looked down at Lightning from the corners of her eyes. "Yeah..?" She barely managed to choke out that single word, feeling uncharacteristically nervous for the first time that night.

Lightning didn't budge, and if anything seemed to press her face more into Fang's neck. "…Did you mean that? What you said earlier… About having you, I mean." Instinctively Fang started to nuzzle into the strawberry-blond locks atop Lightning's head, telling her over and over again quietly that she had meant every word she had said and more.

At that, the soldier abruptly pulled herself away from Fang; the cold rush of air being more than uncomfortable for the both of them. The pulsian's expression shifted to one of disappointment, but that was before she felt the soft padding of fingertips playing over her cheek. Confused, but more stunned than anything else, Fang could only sit there as Lightning leaned back in with an odd glint of intent shining in azure pools.

So maybe Fang could admit to Lightning's attempt at what she called a kiss - as sloppy as it was, could it even be considered one? - was endearing in of itself. She had tried, and quite clumsily missed her lips, her own connecting with Fang's jaw instead. The soldier seemed to be put off by her failure, and attempted to withdraw in embarrassment. Fang caught her by the scruff of her shirt and pulled her back in though, pressing her lips right into Lightning's with no hesitation. Etro be _damned_ if this came back later and kicked her in the ass, but Lightning had just tried to _kiss_ her on her _own_ terms - despite the obvious alcohol coursing through her veins. There was no way Fang would skip out on this chance, and was she grateful the woman came back in and returned her affections as best she could.

Even as the kiss heated up, and hands were lost in each other's hair, Fang knew there was no way she'd let it get any farther than this. But hell, this was the last thing she thought possible; being so close and intimate with the woman of her dreams, and not having to fear for her life. At least for now, anyway.

Fang broke the contact reluctantly moments later, inhaling sharply to replenish her lungs with air they desperately needed. Her gaze was met by Lightning, who's expression was the equivalent of her own; _content_. The pulsian lips twitched into a smile, which was returned as the roseate fumbled slightly in attempt to nuzzle back up against Fang. A tanned arm wrapped itself around Lightning's waist, keeping her close so she wouldn't fall off the couch in her inebriated state while Fang rolled partially so the Farron could lay comfortably on top of her.

A sigh fell from between parted peach lips; probably the happiest sound had heard all night from Lightning since she had gotten there. "—Feelin' better?" Fang asked, though a little doubtful one kiss could shove all the pain Lightning had felt away so easily. She felt warmth brush over her cheek though, and another small kiss planted there before the soldier buried her head back into the side of Fang's neck.

"_Mn_.." It wasn't much of a response, seeing as how Lightning was starting to doze off. The warmth Fang shared with her had been needed, and the added affection a bonus that had her insides fluttering around like crazy - or was that the booze? Letting out a small huff, she breathed in the pulsian's scent once more. Oh yeah, there was _no_ way it was the booze.. And Lightning preferred it that way, while letting out a yawn.

At some point, Fang wasn't even sure anymore, the rise and fall of Lightning's chest indicated she had finally succumbed to a deep slumber. She ran a hand down her companion's back, gently rubbing it in an affectionate gesture. There was no way she was going to sleep now; the feelings this woman stirred in Fang was ridiculous, and attempting sleep would be useless from how she felt.

Still, her mind wandered back to that discarded bottle. Lebreau was still going to get a lecture, one hell of one if she had any say about it. Letting Lightning drink vodka until she was smashed was one thing, but mixing in behemoth blood into it? Fang was going end up needing to be restrained, for the need to slap some sense into that woman was strong. But despite this, she felt a little indebted to the bartender as well… If it hadn't been for her damned concoction, Lightning most likely wouldn't have ended up at her house that night, or crossing over the friend boundary with Fang so willingly.

Not much she could do about it now. Though Fang was _fairly_ sure she'd get punched in the morning, depending on how bad of a hangover Lightning had when she woke up.


	2. Chapter 2

The faint chirping of native pulsian birds filled the air, as was usual for a morning on Gran Pulse. Though if it weren't for the streaks of sunlight peeking in through the window, Lightning probably wouldn't have woken up until much later in the day.

Stirring from her slumber, the soldier let out a groan as she slowly popped open an eye, only to be blinded from the light hitting her face. Lightning let out a huff, quickly turning her head the other way in an attempt to go back to sleep. Nuzzling her face further into the warm blanket, she tried to forget the rapid throbbing of her head that just wouldn't cease. _Etro_, it felt like a long gui had stepped on her head; it hurt _that_ bad. The warmth was nice though; which had her whole body humming pleasantly in it's hold.

Pressing her face more into the odd texture of her blanket, Lightning tried using the warmth coming off it to push all the pain hitting her senses away, at least for a little while longer. It slowly started to dawn on her though, just how strange and warm her blanket was. Using what little energy she could muster, Lightning slid a hand up from where it was tangled in silky fabric and ran her fingertips over the area next to her head.

The surface was smooth and warm, nothing akin to the material her hand had been curled into a moment before. Trailing the tips of her fingers down a bit more, they ran over a spot that felt firmer to the touch. Lightning pressed against it, brows furrowing together when the spot didn't go away, and resisted the pressure applied to it.

Cracking a solitary azure eye open, she blinked a few times until everything came into focus. What met her gaze wasn't a blanket at all.. but rather the exposed tanned skin that covered Fang's chest-bone?

Lightning's mind came screeching to a halt.

Snapping her other blue eye open, she lifted the upper half of her body and stared down at the sleeping pulsian under her. The soldier's mind was reeling, and a look of pure confusion etched itself onto her face. What the hell had happened last night? And why was she laying on top of _Fang_ of all people?

The more Lightning tried recalling the events of the night before, the more a sharp pain at the back of her head assaulted her, keeping her from grasping at the memories. She grabbed the side of her head with her hand, screwing her eyes shut and willing the pain to recede. A few agonizing moments later it had subsided enough to where she let out a tiny sigh, prying her eyes open once more to glance around the living room they were in.

It was rare for Lightning to visit Fang at her own home; only having been there maybe two or three times in the past. But nothing seemed out of place from what she could recall, though her gaze was immediately pulled towards the floor and table next to the sofa they lay on.

Lightning's eyes widened a margin, taking in the sight of her discarded Guardian Corps uniform that was strewn over the coffee table, with a few articles sprawled out over the carpet nearby as well. She didn't need more motive to peer down at the outfit she was wearing, and go completely stiff.

Her clothes had been discarded at some point in the night, and she was wearing what she could only assume was something belonging to Fang.

But how had she gotten into them to begin with? Surely Fang hadn't...

Lightning refused to even finished that thought, as a scowl appeared on her face. Leaning back over the huntress, sapphire eyes studied the woman who was fast asleep. Seeing Fang asleep, up close and personal like this was odd. However, Lightning had to admit she looked peaceful; the way her tousled chocolate locks framed her face, and how her skin seemed to glow in the light pouring in from outside. Fang was fucking gorgeous, simply put.

It was no wonder why Fang had people chasing after her on a daily basis, wanting to bask in her beauty and proud aura. Hell, the pulsian got more than enough men wanting to date her, never mind all the woman swooning shyly in the background.

And yet here she was, _the_ Lightning Farron, laying atop the most wanted female in all of New Bodhum. Though she was more concerned on _how_ she had gotten there to begin with, than how many would just kill to be in her shoes right now.

Lightning crinkled her nose at that last thought, and mentally slapped herself to keep from lingering on such trivial things.

"—Fang?" She grabbed a fistful of the brunette's tank-top, and gave her a few gentle shakes in attempt to stir her from sleep. Lightning's lips twitched in agitation, turning into a frown as she tried shaking Fang even more. All she got in response was a bit of soft mumbling, and the pulsian's head rolling a margin to the side to nuzzle further into the sofa's cushioning.

Grumbling loudly now, she grabbed the pulsian by the shoulders and shook them violently. "—_Fang_!" Lightning was getting pissed now. How the hell could this moron keep on sleeping like this? She had heard stories from Vanille though, countless times in fact, of how when Fang is extremely out of it that she's harder to wake than a bull behemoth.

Vanille _hadn't_ been kidding, much to Lightning's surprise.

Well, if constantly shaking her wasn't going to wake the huntress up.. Lightning knew of _one_ other way that would be effective. She released her hold on the woman's top, and leaned over even more until her cheek was pressed against Fang's, and lips brushed against her ear.

"Fang.." Lightning spoke up softly at first, before her eyes narrowed dangerously while inhaling sharply. "_**WAKE UP!**_"

The pulsian's eyes snapped open, and her body jolted forward from being startled awake from the yelling. Lightning got knocked backwards off of Fang, and fell onto the other side of the couch with a yelp. "—Hey! Watch it." She hissed at the brunette, and rubbed at her aching head.

Fang on the other hand was struggling to catch her breath, and her right hand came up to grasp at the spot over her pounding heart. Emerald eyes were still glazed over from the lingering effects of sleep, so it took a few seconds for her to focus on everything around her. Her other hand came up and ran through her hair, slicking it back as she tried to calm down and realize what was going on.

She let out a groan, still feeling her ears ringing from Lightning yelling into them. The hell was her problem anyway? Fang shot the soldier a nasty look then, none too pleased about the rude awakening. "_Bloody hell_, Lightning! What the hell did ya go and do that for?!"

Lightning didn't even bother answering Fang's question, and instead pointed an accusing finger at the pieces of her uniform that littered the room. She was more than upset, as was apparent by how she glared at the pulsian, but the anger stemmed more from not remembering a damn thing.

Sage hues followed to where Lightning pointed, and Fang could only stare blankly at the discarded outfit. Her gaze flickered from the clothes, to the soldier, and back again while the wheels of her mind turned. What exactly did Lightning want her to do with her uniform? She didn't understand what the roseate was trying to communicate, so she looked but up at the woman and stared, confusion written on her face.

Lightning raised a brow at the look she was being given, but didn't relent in her glaring. "—Care to explain what the fuck I'm doing sitting here in_ your_ clothes, while _mine_ are all over the damn room?"

Fang could only sit there and gawk at her. Did she honestly not remember trudging around in a storm, and venturing out of the city just to come there? "You," The pulsian halted a moment to clear her throat, suddenly unnerved by the situation. "..Don't remember?"

"No. I don't." Lightning growled, fingers digging into the palm of her hand as she balled it up into a fist.

Fang shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, and eventually stood up to step around the low table. She bent over and started pulling the damp articles up, and not moving to meet the gaze that was practically burning a hole into her side.

Offering Lightning back her collected uniform, Fang finally settled on staring back into those sapphire eyes. How was she supposed to explain what happened last night, to where the soldier would _actually_ believe her? It's not every day Lightning gets drunk, especially to that extent. Sighing, Fang took a few seconds to pick out her words carefully.

"Well... It was stormin' last night for starters." Fang motioned towards the wet clothes Lightning was holding tightly against her chest, as if she was afraid to lose them again. "Explains why ya outfit is pretty wet. But anyway, not sure what ya had been doin' before ya got here... I do know though, that ya _had_ been drinkin' a lot at some point, an' that's how ya ended up outside my house, whinin' like a five year old about bein' cold."

A hand was lifted to her face, and fingers lightly scratched at her cheek while letting the first part sink in. Fang wasn't sure what was going through Lightning's mind at the moment, but if her eyes were any indication, she better finish talking quickly.

"Uh, anyway... Ya banged on my door, demandin' I let ya in, which I did obviously.. Let ya get comfy on the sofa while I got ya some clean clothes, an' ya changed." Lightning's glare turned murderous at that, and Fang gulped audibly. "I didn't see anythin' though, I swear! I stepped outside while ya put the dry ones on!" She added hastily, though thankfully the roseate seemed to settle down after hearing that. "Not.. Much happened after that. Ya fell asleep a bit later, an' that's it."

Fang hesitated at sharing one important little detail, seeing as how she wasn't sure how Lightning would take to them having kissed and cuddling on top of that. Unsure of what else to say that could ease her friend out of her anger, she just stood there and waited for some sort of reaction.

Lightning peered up at the pulsian, eyes still narrowed at the explanation given to her, but didn't say anything. While it was true the day before had called for a nasty storm to sweep through the area, she couldn't even remember it happening. But it _would_ account for her clothes being wet, so for that she figured there was some bit of truth.

However, she _had_ noticed a slight moment of hesitation on Fang's part. If it hadn't been for the obvious signs from her body language, Lightning would have actually believed her. But Fang was hiding something, she could tell that much.

"You're lying." Lightning stated in a flat tone, irritation more than clear in her voice.

"What? No 'm not! Lightning, that's really what happened!" Fang huffed.

"I can tell you're hiding something, Fang. Tell me what it is, or_ else_." Lightning growled, her anger rising once again.

Fang sighed, knowing things were going to get nowhere if she didn't fess up to the kiss. "Fine, fine.. I'll tell ya, geez." She grumbled, and looked Lightning in the eyes. "We... May have kinda.. _Kissed_. But that's it I promise!"

An icy shiver ran down Lightning's spine at the confession, but it did little to relieve the soldier of her bubbling rage. Why did it seem like there was more to it than that? Or what if Fang was using that as an excuse to cover up something else that had happened last night? The roseate's thoughts went into a downhill spiral from there with all the possibilities.

The huntress stood there, slowly getting creeped out by Lightning's silence. Leaning over slightly, Fang tilted her head as she waved a hand in the woman's face. "Lightnin—"

_Crack!_

Fang staggered backwards, barely managing to stay on her feet as her left hand grabbed at her eye. The side of her face, and more importantly her left eye, were screaming bloody murder at where Lightning had just punched her clean in the face.

While the brunette was too busy nursing her injured eye, Lightning had promptly grabbed her things and headed for the front door. Fang hissed angrily at being hit, and lifted her head to glare at the soldier who was hovering in the now open door. "The fuck did ya do _that_ for?" She snarled.

Lightning didn't even answer her, and slammed the wooden fixture behind her as she left. Fang stood there in disbelief, right before yelling one last time. "Fine be that way! Ya don't need to be such a bitch either. Next time, see if I care enough to let ya into _my_ house!"

She knew Lightning was long gone already, but it felt good to at least get some of that anger off her chest. It didn't help the sense of loss she felt though. Her stomach knotted up, and it honestly seemed like her heart had sunk into her gut. Whatever chance she ever would have had with Lightning, just walked out the door with the woman.

In an attempt to keep herself from wallowing in her new found sorrow, Fang carefully moved her hand away from her injury. Fingertips gently brushed against her cheekbone, and the pain that jolted throughout her face made Fang wince.

She had a migraine the size of an adamantoise, and was definitely going to have a black eye to match it soon enough.

Fang stumbled back over to the couch, and fell back into it's soft cushioning. She laid there for a few minutes, reliving what had just occurred in her mind; playing it over and over again. Finally, Fang sat up and reached towards the coffee table with her free hand to grab her phone. It was flipped open, and she went about pressing the buttons on it's surface before clicking the call button.

It rang. Once. Twice. And right as it was about to ring once more, a bit of static and ruffling could be heard before a familiar chipper voice spoke from the other end.

[_Heya Fang!_]

The younger pulsian seemed happy enough, which was good in all accounts. But right now Fang needed someone, and that person _had_ to be Vanille.

"Hey, 'Nille... Hope 'm not botherin' ya right now.."

[_Bothering me? Of course not, silly! I always have time for my big sister, you know?_]

Fang couldn't help but smirk at that. Vanille always knew how to make her smile, even when she wanted to do anything _but_ that. "That's good... If it's not too much trouble, do ya think it's possible for ya to come over right now?"

[_Right now? Sure! Lemme just get dressed, and I'll be over there in two shakes!_]

"Thanks, Van." Fang breathed a little easier, and after hanging up with the red head, went back to reclining on the sofa. It was silent in her home, save for her ragged breathing every time a tiny spark of pain made her twitch involuntarily.

Perhaps telling Lightning the truth straight out would have been better. But then again, she would have more than likely still gotten punched. Fang crinkled her nose a bit, cursing Lady Luck for not having her back with what happened. Why did Lightning even feel the need to punch her anyway? There had been no need for it, considering it had only been a damned _kiss_. Given just who she had been dealing with though, Fang realized it could have gone much worse.

Much worse.

Like, a gunblade wound instead of a black eye, for instance.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Storming through the crowds out and about on the streets of New Bodhum, Lightning kept to herself and growled under her breath more; cursing the pulsian for all she was worth.

While she could accept part of the woman's story; mostly revolving around her drenched uniform, and having been given fresh clothes. When it came to Fang saying they had kissed, that's where Lightning drew the line.

There was no way she had done such a thing with Fang. Nor would she willingly with her, or any other female in existence.

Or at least she was sure.

To be honest the thought had never crossed her mind until now. Love and relationships were foreign to her, and the only kind she had ever touched on was the strictly platonic bond she shared with Serah.

Lightning had never dated anyone either, and to be fair she wasn't even sure what her orientation was. Not that she ever had time to wonder about it, since raising and watching over her younger sister had been her priority ever since their parents had died. Right next to her many hours with the Guardian Corps.. It didn't leave her much time to dwell on such things.

Images flashed in her mind of Fang just then, and what actually kissing her _might_ be like. Lightning found herself standing outside the walkway to her home, envisioning the brunette leaning towards her, grinning like the beautiful idiot she was while holding onto her tightly. Her heart started thrashing against her ribcage, while the image of those luscious lips pressed against hers settled into her mind, and stayed there.

Immediately she could feel her face burning, and screwing her eyes shut was all she could do to force that picture from her mind.

_What if she had been telling the truth...?_

Lightning shook her head violently at that single thought, and scowled. Fang must have been drunk too, that or either she had imagined the whole thing. If they _had_ actually kissed, wouldn't she have remembered something important like that?

Yet again her mind assaulted her with doubt. What if Fang really had been telling the truth? She had just decked the woman in the face, not even willing to talk further on what possibly had happened last night. Not to mention slamming Fang's door in a fit of rage, and fleeing the property.

Lightning's expression faltered, as her mind rewound and went over everything that had happened at Fang's home.

_Am I really that horrible of a person..?_

Letting out a drawn out sigh, as she could feel her shoulders slump under the weight of the guilt she was now feeling. She was going to have to apologize to Fang sooner or later, that much was clear.

But as she finally resumed walking, and headed for the door to her own home, she made a mental note to try and keep distance between her and Fang for now.

If she had been telling the truth, and they had kissed... Lightning wasn't sure she could trust herself to be alone with Fang, not for a long time.

Plus, she was sure their friendship had been compromised after punching her on a whim.

She _really_ needed to think things over while she had the chance.


	3. Chapter 3

Light knocking at the front door caused Fang to stir where she lay on the couch, and let out a small groan as she pushed herself upright. Her head was still throbbing horribly, and the continued pounding on her door wasn't helping in the slightest.

"—Hold ya damn chocobos, 'm comin' already!" Fang yelled at the person outside, while pulling herself to her feet. Padding over to the door quietly, she reached for the doorknob, twisted it, and pulled it opened to reveal the bubbly young Vanille standing there eagerly.

Without so much as a word, the younger pulsian lunged at Fang and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. "Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh? Ya shouldn't be so grumpy, Fang!" Vanille said in a cheery tone, before giving her sister one last affectionate squeeze.

Upon retracting herself, light sage eyes widened when Vanille took note of the damage done to Fang's face.

"_F—Fang_? What happened to your face!?" Vanille squeaked loudly in pure shock, reaching a hand up towards the elder woman's face, though hesitating when Fang seemed to glare at it. She stood there, rooted to her spot until finally the huntress let out a sigh and gave her a tiny nod - letting her know it was okay to inspect the injury.

The soft pads of the red head's finger lightly touched Fang's cheek bone, where a mottling of yellow, red and faint purple were already covering the area and creeping further down that tanned cheek. "Oh Fang... This is simply awful!" Vanille felt the stinging of tears in the corners of her eyes, as she further explored around the bruising.

Fang twitched slightly from a tiny spark of pain, when the younger woman brushed against the underside of her eyelid. Her eye was swollen shut, a nasty shade of darkened purple, and hurt more than any cut or scrape she could ever recall getting in her life.

Lightning's right hook was _truly_ a devastating force, and it left Fang wondering how the hell Snow dealt with being jabbed in the jaw all the time.

Once Vanille had pulled her hand away, Fang just huffed and leaned against the frame of the door. Jade eyes stared down into the girl's younger hues, while her lips pursed into a thin line. "—I got punched in the face." That was the only explanation offered, before she took a step back and motioned for her companion to come inside.

Vanille took a few steps into the familiar home, before spinning on her heels and staring intensely at Fang. "Punched?" She repeated, as if the notion of the huntress being his was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard. "By who?"

Fang nudged the door closed behind her with an elbow, and raised her good brow at how serious Vanille had become. There was no real point in trying to lie who had done it, since it would be obviously sooner or later. "Lightning. She's the one who hit me, okay?" The brunette sighed in an exasperated manner, and pushed past Vanille to get back to the sofa.

"Why would she do that though?" Pondering the question out loud, though mostly to herself, Vanille curiously watched her sister pulsian sink into the cushioning of the couch. " Moving over after her partner, she flopped down next to Fang and resumed staring at her, as if waiting for the explanation she knew was coming.

Peering over to her side, Fang inwardly groaned at the face Vanille was giving her. She really _did_ expect the details, and there was no way around it now either. "Lightning, she.." Shifting around in her corner some, she twisted her body around to face her friend. ".. Mighta been out drinkin' last night. Now, don't ask me how much, cause I really don't know. But when I dragged her whiny butt inside, a bottle from the _NORA_ bar dropped outta her hand.."

A small grin found it's way onto her face, as she watched Vanille's eyes slowly start to widen at the realization. Fang could see the wheels turning in the younger girl's mind, but before she could ask any questions, went back to finishing her story.

"Anyway.. Long story short; I gave her some fresh clothes, since hers were dripping from the storm, an' then prodded her about why she was even outside my home in the middle of the night." Fang's voice trailed off, favoring getting lost in her memories for a split moment. Recalling just how hurt and lonely Lightning had sounded pulled at her heartstrings, and it was even weirder for Fang since she had _never_ seen the strong-willed woman so vulnerable before.

"She kept goin' on about the weddin', ya know? Bout how she felt like she was losin' the lil Farron, an' how Serah didn't need her much anymore." Fang rolled her shoulders in a shrug, before tilting her head at Vanille. "Light was pretty upset by it all, but then.." The huntress sheepishly scratched at her good cheek, failing to hide the slight grin appearing on her face. "One thing kinda led to another, an' before I knew it.. She was leanin' into me, an' even tried to _kiss_ me."

Vanille blinked a few times slowly, letting that bit of information sink in. Lightning had actually tried to kiss Fang, and even with alcohol that was saying a lot. Her nose scrunched up a bit, wondering on the way she had worded her thoughts. "So... She tried to? But... Didn't? Or what? C'mon Fang, you need to give me more details than that!" Vanille pouted, jutting her lower lip out and giving her sister the biggest puppy dog face she could muster.

Fang rolled her good eye at the display. "Fine, fine.. Quit with the act, missy." She laughed a bit, while giving Vanille a playful shove. "Sunshine got a lil frustrated, cause she actually missed, I mean ya know bein' drunk an' all I can see why. But I may have.. Pulled her in an' kissed her myself."

The resulting squeal from Vanille nearly made Fang go deaf in one ear, and the only thing she could do to keep her from continuing was to slap a hand over the girl's mouth. "Knock it off, Van. My head is killin' me.. Don't need ya screechin' in my ear like that." She growled softly, and waited until she got a small nod of understanding before removing her hand.

Her sister pulsian wiggled around in her seat excitedly, mossy green eyes shining with glee - though remaining as quiet as she could be because Fang was still glowering at her. The brunette let out a long sigh, reaching a hand up to rub at the side of her head. Now came the part she honestly didn't feel like talking about.

"Lightning doesn't remember." There, she had said it, and the look Vanille gave her screamed a dozen different things at once. Fang could have sworn it felt like she had just kicked a puppy, given how fast her sister's excitement died out from three simple words.

"She doesn't remember.. huh?" Vanille repeated, still sounding more shocked than anything. "So _that's_ why she punched you then?" She voiced her inner most thoughts, looking for a bit of confirmation.

Fang just nodded at her, and leaned her head back so it could rest over the edge of the couch's arm. "Yeah.. When she woke up this mornin', an' after scarin' me shitless to wake me up on top of that, she demanded to know what happened. So I told her." She then pointed a finger towards her face, indicating the black eye she now had. "Lightning punched me, then left without sayin' so much as a word."

There was a long pause after that, as Fang recalled the bottle she had picked up that night. The same one Lebreau's handwriting was on, listing the container as having one half vodka and two halves fresh behemoth blood. That was more than enough to hinder the soldier remembering, and Fang highly doubt she would for quite a few days - if she was lucky that is.

"Lebreau is to blame for all this." She grumbled under her breath, which earned an odd look from Vanille. "Why her? Surely Lightning has no one to blame but herself, since she was the one drinking her problems away... Right?" Fang just shook her head, and leaned back up in her seat to look the younger girl in the eyes.

"She's been addin' behemoth blood into her alcohol, and purposely givin' it to Lightning herself. I wouldn't have believed it myself either, if I hadn't bothered to check the bottle she dropped last night." Before Vanille could further question her, Fang motioned towards the front door. "If ya don't believe me, that damn bottle is still layin' outside in the grass."

The younger pulsian seemed to take this into consideration, but eventually just smiled and reached out to lightly touch Fang's arm. "I believe you, Fang. Don't worry about that." She paused momentarily after that, while hopping off the couch and taking a few steps towards the nearby hallway. "We need to get you patched up!" And with that, Vanille disappeared to rummage around in the bathroom while giggling.

Fang could only sigh, inwardly making some snippy comment about how Vanille always did love playing doctor; only this time she was _actually_ injured. Thankfully she didn't have to wait long, as the spunky red head came bounding back into the living room, and retaking her spot on the sofa next to her.

Cracking open the faded red case she had brought with her, Vanille went about pulling a few different items out. She kept glancing at Fang from the corners of her eyes though, which slowly made the older huntress scowl at her more. "Why do ya keep lookin' at me like that, 'Nille?" Fang growled, hints of irritation laced in her voice.

"Oh, no reason~" Vanille grinned, while reaching out to gently tug the other woman closer. She grabbed the ointment that had been placed in her lap, and squeezed a little bit of the white substance onto her fingers. "This should help with the swelling.." Fingers would then get started applying it to Fang's eye, being more than delicate in their actions as to not cause her discomfort.

"You know, Fang.." Vanille's voice trailed off, noticing how that scowl was still present on Fang's face. She was quick to smile again; being more than eager to see the reaction she was about to get. "If ya don't do somethin' about that face, Lightning won't ever notice you in_ that_ way~"

The expression on Fang's face faltered, and she stared dumbfounded at Vanille as a crimson blush dusted her cheeks. "S-Shut up, Vanille!" She snapped, while turning her face to the right so she wouldn't have to stare at that overly amused face.

Vanille watched her friend closely, staying quiet for the time being as finished spreading the ointment around the injury. "Fang.." She dropped her hand back to that arm, giving it a little squeeze. "I was only teasing you. But I know how much you like Lightning, it's not hard to tell."

Fang mumbled inaudibly, but did turn to regard Vanille again. "Doesn't matter if I do or don't. I fucked up. I'll be lucky if she still considers me a friend after that stunt." There was still a bit of pent up anger at the soldier from being punched in her tone, but underneath that there was nothing but sadness. Vanille could sense this, and leaned in to rest her head against Fang's shoulder. "Hey, hey... I don't think that's true at all. You guys just need to, you know, work this little problem out yourselves."

Pulling herself away again after a moment, Vanille scooped up the large gauze eye patch and motioned for Fang to bring her head down a bit. The brunette did so without saying a word, and patiently waited while soft hands went about setting the soft padding against her eye. The band was then brought down behind her head, and one side tucked under Fang's left ear to keep the bandage in place.

"There we go, all better!" Vanille smiled warmly, and shoved the remaining items back into the med kit then placed it on the coffee table. A silence fell between them; while it wasn't uncomfortable, it left her to wonder what was going through Fang's mind. At least she wouldn't have to worry about people seeing how bad her eye was, as Vanille had noted how well the patch covered it up plus the bruising of her cheekbone.

Fang brought a hand up after a minute, and gently ran the pads of her fingers across the material covering part of her face. While she was pleased with hiding her black eye, it didn't stop the stinging sensation she felt burning a hole into her pride. Having to walk around town with it would be bad enough, considering all the looks people would give her. But being a Yun, and not having fought back to being injured? If people found out that tiny detail, she would ultimately be a disgrace to her family.

Either way, she hoped no one would question her too much about it, since admitting that Lightning had hit her would be a bad move in the long run. Etro only _knows_ what more that woman would do to her, if she let that fact slip out.

"Fang?" Vanille poked at her, not liking how distant the look in her eyes had become. The huntress blinked a few times, retracting herself from her thoughts and looked at her sister. "Oi, sorry.. Just thinkin'. Thanks for patchin' up my eye though, Van.." She chuckled a bit, offering the younger pulsian a smile. "Knowin' me, I prolly woulda hurt myself more in tryin' to get this patch on." With that said and done, Fang pulled the girl into warm embrace and hugged her tightly.

Vanille just giggled more, and happily wrapped her arms around Fang in return. "You don't need to thank me, silly! It's what I'm here for. _Someone_ has to look after you, right?" Rolling her eyes at her little claim, she pulled away and ruffled that auburn hair affectionately. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever ya say, missy." Fang got a tongue stuck out at her in response, and she merely poked the tip of Vanille's nose with a smirk riding on her lips.

"So.. Fang?" Vanille peered up at, curiosity swirling behind her lighter shade of jade eyes.

"What?" Fang raised a thin brow, a little unsure of what the younger female was about to ask her.

"What are you going to do now?" It was a good question, and one Vanille was interested in hearing. She knew Fang well enough from the past years to know she wasn't going to sit idly by, after getting physically injured over someone's irresponsible actions.

Running a hand down the right side of her face, Fang let out an annoyed sigh. "Don't know what 'm gonna do about Lightning jus' yet... But I do know one thing I _can_ do, an' definitely plan on doin' here in a bit."

Vanille just squirmed around in her seat in anticipation, more than eager to know what Fang was going to do. While she would never admit it out loud, she had always found this side of her sister pulsian exciting. It would probably account for how well they got along as well, seeing as how many of the other kids from their clans back in the day were terrified of Fang. That was why Vanille had clung to her so easily, wanting to be protected from the older and meaner group of teens that harassed her on a daily basis.

Fang pushed herself up off the sofa, stretching her arms out over her head before both hands came to rest on her hips. "Goin' to head over to the bar, an' get an explanation out of that blasted barmaid. She better have a damned good reason for givin' Lightning that crap, that's for sure." She motioned with her head towards the front door, and walked over to it to pull it open.

"Ya comin' with me or not?" Fang questioned, though personally not caring if the younger girl did or not. It _would_ be nice to have some company on the way though, especially if it would help avoid people trying to stop her on the streets and ask what happened.

Vanille practically bounced off the sofa, and was at Fang's side within a second. "Course I'm coming with you! Plus I want to know why Lebreau would do such a thing to begin with.. It's just not right!"

She just rolled her eye at Vanille, and ushered the girl outside before closing the door behind them. It wouldn't take too long to get to the bar, maybe 20 or so minutes on foot. But as they started off down the road, Fang silently prayed to Lady Luck for Lightning to not be there.

The day had already started off on the wrong foot, and Fang honestly didn't need it to get much worse than it already had.


	4. Chapter 4

"Will ya jus' do it already?" Fang huffed, and nudged Vanille towards the front doors of the _NORA_ bar. They had been standing outside to the side of the entryway for nearly ten minutes already, and had been bickering over who would go in first.

"But why do I have to go?" The younger pulsian challenged Fang again, jutting her lip out defiantly as she propped her hands up on her hips and leaned her upper half forward.

"_Etro_, will ya think about what ya sayin' for a minute Vanille?" The huntress retorted, and glared down at the girl with her good eye. "If _I_ go in there first, an' _Lightning_ is in there too... Bein' here won't end good, I'll tell ya that much. Besides, if she _is_ inside, seein' ya wouldn't bug her much at all cause ya ain't me... See my point?"

Fang really didn't want to chance seeing the soldier so soon already, after Lightning left her home earlier. Another fight was _not_ on her list of things to do today, and if at all possible she wanted to avoid it.

Vanille scrunched her face up at her, but finally let out a sigh of defeat upon realizing Fang had made a really good point. "_Fiiiiiine_." She rolled her eyes and took a step towards the door, bringing her hands up to press against the metal of the door. Slowly but surely, it was pushed open and the younger girl's head peeked inside.

Light sage hues settled on the far side of the bar, and glanced to the other side where the counter was located. The place was empty save for two people; Lebreau and... _Snow_? Vanille's eyes widened, and her body pressed against the door now while she strained to hear what they were talking about.

Lebreau was leaning over the polished bar, propped up by nothing but an elbow while staring at Snow. A pen was twitching in her free hand, making small notes here and there as they conversed.

"So... You're going to need how many boxes?" The barmaid asked, while raising a brow at the huge grin the man was giving her. "Not that it will be a problem, but considering how many people are going to be there... It's good to know a rough estimate." Lebreau stated, the tip of her pen tapping against the counter while she waiting for an answer.

Snow seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, before he just shrugged and gave the woman his usual goofy grin. "Probably around 60 or 70? Not sure how man—"

Vanille's head popped out from between the doors, and the girl leaned backwards to look up at Fang. "No one's in there but Lebreau and Snow! So can we go in now, pleeeease?" She nearly pleaded, giving the huntress puppy eyes that almost anyone would fall for - except one Yun Fang.

Fang gave the red head a weird look, but shook her head and gave her a lil push. "Yeah, tired of standin' out here anyway.." She grumbled, but followed after Vanille who had already gone running inside.

"Hiya Snow! 'Breau!" Vanille chirped happily, and bounced over to the bar before taking the stool on the right side of the huge man. Snow turned slightly in his own stool, and beamed a huge smile at the younger pulsian. "Heya Vanille! Didn't think I'd be seeing you so soon after the wedding. Couldn't get enough of your favorite hero, eh?" He teased, giving her a playful punch to the shoulder; which caused her to go spinning around in her seat, much to her delight.

Fang lingered at the doors, just watching her sister interact with Serah's husband. The girl had never been able to help herself once she had met Snow, and every opportunity Vanille was given she took to spent time with him. She loved his stories mostly, not to mention the way he bragged about his strength and how he loved to show off. Inwardly, Fang wondered if it had anything to do with how she had been before they had left their clans.. Perhaps that's why Vanille seemed so drawn to Snow, not that the huntress minded. He really was a great guy, she had to admit, even if he_ was_ cocoonian.

"_Faaaaaang_! Come sit with us!" Vanille called over to her, waving a hand at her eagerly. Snow seemed to perk up at that, and started to turn around to get a better view of Fang. "If it isn't my favorite pulsian! Feel like I haven't seen you in fore—" He stopped mid-sentence, and stared at the gauze patch covering her right eye.

"Whoa-ho-ho! What happened to_ you_?" He immediately hopped off his stool and strode towards the huntress, just to get a better look. Snow knew better than to try and get a peek of course, but damn, he was still curious to know how she had gotten injured. It was rare to see the Yun in such a state, as usually whoever attempting assaulting her would find themselves on their back quite easily.

Fang cast a glance over to where Lebreau was standing, but whom was too busy in whatever it was she was doing to join the conversation.

Returning her gaze back the the man standing in front of her, who's head was cocked to the side now from her not speaking up. Snow looked like he was ready to burst, just from suspense hanging in the air between them. With a sigh, Fang brought a hand up and motioned for him to stop even before he had started throwing more questions at her.

"Lightning happened." Those two words alone were more than enough to cause the blonde's eyes to widen in shock. "Damn.." It was all Snow could think to say, as his gaze fell back onto the eye patch hiding her bruised eye. "Can't imagine what you did to warrant getting hit like _that_.. Out of everyone I know, you were the only one she hadn't hit - besides Vanille, but that's a given if you know what I mean."

"_Tch.._" Fang scowled at Snow, starting to wonder if telling him the details would even be a good idea. But he had already asked, so there was no use in hiding anything now that he knew Lightning was the culprit.

Might as well keep it short and simple though. "She was drunk last night. Came over to my house demandin' to be let in, which I did though I had to haul her in myself. Let her change into some fresh clothes, listened to her sulk and whine, an' on top of that got hit on." Fang paused, subconsciously biting at her lip now. Another glance was cast towards Lebreau, before pulling her gaze back and letting sage hues meet Snow's beryl ones.

"—I may have kissed her too. An' when Lightning woke up this mornin', she wanted to know what happened.. So I told her, an' in result got decked in the face. That's pretty much it." Fang finished, shifting where she stood.

"Whoa... I'm surprised that's _all_ you got, considering this is _Lightning_ we're talking about." Snow couldn't help but look at her in awe, as if anyone else had tried something like that they'd either be in the hospital, or dead. Fang had gotten away with just a punch to the face, and while he was sure that had hurt the huntress severely in it's own way, it was far better than what _could_ have happened.

"Yeah, whatever." Fang grumbled, before glancing over at Lebreau and narrowing her eyes. "Get out of my way, Snow." She hissed, and shoved past him to storm over the the bar. He stood there was a confused look on his face, wondering if he had said something to switch her mood so fast.

"_**Lebreau****!**_" The pulsian barked at the barmaid in her rising wave of anger, reaching over the counter with ease and grabbing a fistful of Lebreau's shirt. Fang tugged her forward forcefully, causing the woman to hit her side of the bar hard enough to make her yelp in surprise. She clenched her teeth, contemplating the dozen of things she wanted to do to this woman now that she was face to face with her. Reeling in most of her rage for the time being, she glared all kinds of death at Lebreau for what she had done.

"Tell me why the hell ya went an' let Lightning drink that shit. _Now!_" Fang snarled, tightening her hold on the struggling woman whom was more than scared shitless at this point.

Pissing off a Yun was never a smart thing to do, especially when it happened to be Fang.

"W-what are you... Fang, let go of me! I didn't do anything wrong!" Lebreau pleaded, and lifted a hand to grab at the brunette's wrist in attempt to pull her off.

"Bullshit! Because of that damn behemoth blood ya been givin' her, Lightning doesn't remember a damn thing that happened yesterday! Do ya even _know_ what that crap does to a person?" Fang pressed the barmaid for an answer, silently praying for another reason why she should smack some sense into her.

The look Lebreau gave Fang was enough to make her hesitate for a split moment, as something etched onto her features caught her off guard. "...Ya honestly don't know, do ya?" Fang could feel the anger slipping away, leaving her with nothing but disbelief at this situation. Lebreau stayed quiet, but nodded a confirmation of what the pulsian had said.

"Behemoth blood," Fang started, never once breaking the gaze she shared with Lebreau. "It's something only few of the clans use. Alone it's nearly harmless, but when mixed with alcohol it becomes somethin' different entirely. The more one person intakes, the larger the period of time they won't remember while they're drunk." She needed a better way to explain this, perhaps an example or two so these cocoonians would understand better.

"Alright... So, say if Snow here had one shot with this crap, given his size an' build, he would forget anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes.. An' he wouldn't remember what happened durin' that time for an hour or two after his hangover was gone." Fang watched as realization slowly seeped it's way onto the barmaid's face. "Ya startin' to get the picture here? Lightning had that whole damned bottle, an' considerin' how much ya had labeled on it's side... She'll be lucky to remember anythin' from last night in the next week, if that!"

Before Fang could say anything else, the bartender was quick to cut her off and try to explain her side of things; especially before the Yun could get more riled up than she already was.

"Look I.. I honestly don't know what all really happened with you and Lightning, but I swear I meant nothing bad by mixing that stuff into her drink! The guy I buy most of my stock from, got some of the blood in and said it adds a kick to any alcohol it's added too." While she talked, a hand rummaged around in the small stack of papers she had been working on with Snow.

After a few minutes, Lebreau found what she was looking for and offered a half sheet of paper to Fang. "See? This is what the guy gave me when I bought some. Says the blood doubles the strength of booze, but mentions nothing more.. So I had no way of knowing! I only gave Lightning some, because I know she's been working hard and deserved something to take the edge off her stress."

Fang finally let go of Lebreau's shirt, took that offered piece of paper and shredded it without a second thought. Then, with a heavy sigh, she sunk into one of the stools in front of the barmaid and brought both arms up to lay across the smooth surface of the counter. "Maker help me... These fuckin' cocoonians.."

Vanille leaned over, wrapping an around around Fang's back, as she gave her a small hug. "There, there.. Everything will be okay, Fang!" She didn't get a chance to answer her sister pulsian, when she felt a stirring of air to her left as Snow plopped down in the seat next to her.

"Yeah! I agree with Vanille. Lighten up, Fang! You at least told Lebreau what that stuff is really capable of, so if anything you can avoid a repeat of yesterday." Snow then patted her on the back in a reassuring manner, trying his best to comfort one of his good friends.

A loud ringing from Snow's pocket made them all jump slightly. He gave them all an apologetic look; namely Lebreau who was giving him a look that screamed '_right now is not the time_', but he just ignored her and checked who was calling.

"Nope, sorry 'Breau! Gotta take this one, it's Serah." Snow grinned at Lebreau, before walking to the other side of the bar and out of listening distance.

Vanille watched him go and turned back to Fang, giving her right arm a gentle tug to get her attention. "Fang? What are you going to do now..?" She asked softly, since it was obviously Lebreau hadn't known about what the substance would do to Lightning.

"..Hell if I know, Vanille." The huntress grumbled, while leaning back in her stood to sit straight once more. "This whole thing is a big mess, an' 'm not sure where to even start." Fang sighed, and rubbed the back of her neck while in thought. It was then that the heavy footsteps only belonging to Snow were heard heading towards them, and all three females turned their heads to look at him.

"So what did the _missus_ need this time, Snow?" Lebreau asked curiously, while giving him a sly wink and gathering her pile of papers back up.

"Not too much! Serah just wanted to know if you can spare another two of three boxes of beer for the party. Think that's possible?" Snow's grin only widened when Lebreau signaled she was okay with it, and only after that did he turned towards the sister pulsians.

"She also reminded me to ask the two of you if you wanted to come tomorrow. I was planning on stopping by your places later today, but since you're here already.." Snow looked towards Vanille first, seeing the glint in her eyes and laughed a bit. When he shifted his gaze to Fang, the look she gave him was completely unsure of his intentions and her mouth twitched with the question he could already see coming. "Before you ask, it's a party. Nothing too big though! It's basically a house warming party, since Serah is finally all moved in. It was her idea too, eheh."

Fang raised her good brow at him, but couldn't help but smirk at the thought that this whole thing was Serah's doing. Either way, she supposed it would be a nice distraction from everything, and Etro knows she needed something to do just that. Not to mention she had something to apologize to the youngest Farron for, so this would be the best opportunity.

"Yeah, I'll be there, Snow. Could use a little party after the day I've been havin'." Fang then glanced over her shoulder at Vanille, who's expression couldn't have been anything less than ecstatic over the party. "I'm going too!" She squeaked, right before shooting out of her seat to latch onto Fang. Her knees dug into the cushion of the stool, while she wrapped her arms around her sister's neck and rested her chin on that tousled mane of chocolate hair - all so she could get a closer look at Snow.

"Snooooow~? Is it okay if I make some food for the party? You know, like that one dish you and Serah loved so much as the wedding reception?" Vanille asked cheerfully, wanting to be apart of the party process more than she already was. Fang just rolled her eye, but smiled and leaned back against the younger pulsian. While it was rare for Vanille to embrace her as such, she honestly didn't mind it, and found a sense of comfort from it.

Fang sort of drifted off into her own thoughts for a few minutes; mostly thinking about her mother, and how much she missed her clan on top of that. Leaving her clan had been hard enough, even with Vanille in tow. But was all this really worth having done that? Granted, falling for the soldier hadn't been in her plans, but since the day they had met, Lightning was practically always on her mind in some way or another.

By the time she snapped out of her little trance, Snow had already left the bar to get some other things ready, and Vanille was sitting in the seat next to her once more.

"Hey, Fang?" Lebreau spoke up, while leaning her upper half over the counter table. "Hm..?" Fang turned in her stool, and tilted her head at the woman. "What do ya want, 'Breau?"

"Well, think you can come in tomorrow morning and help me out a bit? I can't leave the bar until a closer time to the party itself, and I need someone strong to lug those extra boxes of beer to Snow's home.. I'd pay you, of course." Even as she had said it, Lebreau had already pulled out a small sack of gil and tossed it in front of Fang.

Jade hues eyed the bag for a moment, before she just shook her head and pushed the gil away. "Naw, ya don't need to pay me. I'll do it for free. Besides, I owe them anyway as it is." Lebreau gave her a questionable look, but didn't try to pry in why her friend owed the newly wed couple.

"Okay then. Still, thanks for this.. I'll make it up to you sometime, I promise! Especially.." Lebreau fell silent for a second, her eyes settling on the gauze over Fang's eye. "...Yeah, _definitely_ going to make it up to for you that." She was determined to as well; after all one of her good friends had been hurt because of her actions.

"I'll hold ya to that, missy." Fang offered her a tiny smirk, before pulling herself off the stood and stretching her arms and back. "Anyway... Think 'm gonna go back home. Tired as hell, since I barely got any sleep last night." She mumbled a bit more after that, but waved a hand in farewell to the bartender and her sister pulsian.

Right before Fang was about to walk out the doors, Vanille ran over and attached to her arm. "Fang! Can you come over tomorrow after you take those beers? I might need some help carrying my things there too.. So if you don't mind.."

A tanned hand rested itself on Vanille's head, as sage orbs looked down into their lighter counterparts. "Sure thing, 'Nille." Leaning over slightly, Fang pressed a kiss to the girl's forehead, which earned a small giggle. Vanille let her go after that, and gave Fang a tiny push to on the back to make her leave.

"I'll see ya both tomorrow." Fang chuckled, lifting her hand away from Vanille's head then, and only after giving them both one last look, left the bar to go home and get the peace she so needed right now.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day came fairly fast, perhaps _too_ fast for Fang, despite having slept in the rest of the previous day. Either way, she got up around 9 in the morning, got dressed in her black top and ragged faded blue jeans and left her home.

The jog down to the bar wasn't too bad, and thankfully there was a nice breeze to accommodate for the blaring sun beating her down with it's rays. After roughly 10 minutes, Fang finally got to the bar, though stopped before going in and rested a hand up against the bricked wall. She wiped her brow with the back of her hand, and flung the beads of sweat that clung to it down to the ground.

Her gaze drifted from the doors leading inside, to the neatly stacked boxes sitting up against the wall opposite of her. Figuring that these were the ones she was supposed to take, Fang pushed the closest door open and peered inside. Lebreau was nowhere to be seen, however she_ had_ to be inside otherwise the bar wouldn't even be unlocked at this time of day.

"Oi! 'Breau, ya here?" The huntress called into the building; her voice reverberating off the walls in a slight echo. At first Fang couldn't hear a thing, and she was about to go check around the side of the building when the door leading to the kitchen swung open and Lebreau's head popped out. "Oh! Morning Fang!" The barmaid greeting her warmly.

Motioning with her free hand, she pointed a finger at the boxes outside the establishment. "Jus' to make sure, but these are the ones ya wanted me to take, right? Didn't wanna run off with em without askin' first."

"Yeah, those are them." Lebreau confirmed, while gesturing for the pulsian to get going. "Don't make the hero wait more than he already has. You know how he gets, especially with Serah on his case about this party!" Laughing now, the bartender disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving Fang to her little duty.

The huntress let the door close, and knelt down to inspect the boxes of beer she needed to take. It seemed like Lebreau was giving the couple some of her best stock, and while it came as a surprise to her, Fang was a more than pleased at the effort the woman was making to make sure Serah's party went off without a problem.

Fang easily scooped up the containers; holding two up in her right arm with her hand holding them steady up top, while her other arm held the last box against her side. To be fair they _were_ relatively heavy, and she could see why Lebreau had wanted her to carry them down the road to Snow's home instead of someone else.

Compared to most cocoonians, the people from the clans covering most of Gran Pulse were superior in strength, with the Yuns being at the top. For Fang, carrying these boxes of booze was like holding a small child - as to where other people would struggle to even carry two at a time. After casting one more glance at the bar doors, Fang set off down the road towards her destination.

The walk there was pleasant; barely anyone out on the streets just yet, and the few people who were didn't try and ask what happened to her eye. Fang was so immensely grateful for the space she was being given, since she didn't even want to think about it much, let alone talk about it to someone she didn't know.

She walked in silence for a few minutes, mostly getting lost in her thoughts over the party and who all had been invited. Fang didn't plan on mingling much though, instead hoping she'd be able to flop down in a chair somewhere and just relax with a beer in her hand. She already knew a majority of the people who were going she wouldn't know, but sadly they would know _her_. Practically everyone in New Bodhum knew who she was, simply because she was the only pulsian in town - besides Vanille - who had willingly stayed lodged in the city for more than a week.

If it wasn't for the fact she needed to talk to Serah face to face, Fang doubted she would have even given the party a second thought.

Slipping out of her little daze for a minute, sage hues peered at the huge, and recently built, home that was coming up at the end of the road. This side of town they were still slowly adding housing units, since more cocoonians were moving down from Cocoon to settle in. Nothing but politics, fights for power, and turmoil for the people who still lived up there. But according to the younger Farron, people felt safer up there despite all that.

Fang couldn't understand why; probably being born and raised on Pulse, and having totally different rules and beliefs would account for her confusion. Then again, cocoonian people always had been weird.

Turning down the paved walkway, Fang soon found herself at the front door of the home. Instead of ringing the doorbell though, she just silently admired the workmanship that was needed to have carved such intricate designs into the wood.

Now, the huntress had known Snow had built the house himself, with a bit of help from his little group of friends. But the skill needed for such a thing... Well, Fang was pretty sure that he couldn't have done it with such burly, and untrained hands in the art. Then again, upon closer inspection it occurred to her that maybe he _had_ done it - given the way how both Serah's and his own name were carved into the crystalline design, with his last name sprouting in vines and flowers from both of theirs.

Kneeling down and carefully setting down the lone box cradled in her arm, Fang reached over and pushed the button. Faint sounds of the alarm going off through the house could be heard, before she saw the distorted view of the man walking towards the door from behind the glass panel. By the time the pulsian had leaned back over to pick the box up, the door was wide open and Snow was standing there with his signature grin.

"Hey Fang! Didn't think you would be here so early.. Not that I'm complaining, mind you." Snow grinned even more, if it was possible, and offered to take a box of two from her, but Fang just shook her head and stepped inside. The gust of cool air hit her sweat covered skin, and sent a pleasant chill down her spine. Felt so much nicer than being outside, that was for sure. "So, uh, where do ya want me to put these, Snow?"

He just waved a hand in the air, not seeming to care where she put them down before walking back towards the kitchen. Fang blinked a couple times, then looked around the front hallway. Not really a good place to set the beer, so she just opted to followed after Snow down the hall. She hovered at the entrance to the room, staring in awe at how nicely furnished and huge their kitchen was. It was at least twice the size of her own, with added storage space, a small closet, and even two refrigerators that sat side on opposite walls.

Leave it to Snow to go all out when building a house, and then filling it with everything a girl like Serah could dream of.

"I'll jus' set em here for now." Fang said, while carefully stacking the beer boxes on the metal table sitting idly in the middle of the tiled room. "Gotta hand it to ya though.. This house is pretty damn nice, for cocoonian standards anyway."

"Think so?" Snow glanced up from the giant chunk of behemoth meat he had gone back to slicing for Serah, to give Fang another grin. "Thanks! Worked really hard on this place.. Only the best will do for my girl, you know?" He chuckled when he only got an eye-roll from the huntress. "Hey, I know it's different from how you lived in your clan.. But as long as Serah is happy, then Lightning will be too because her sister is. Keeping them both happy is good for my benefit, so I try as hard as I can."

Fang gave him a weird look, knowing fully well that couldn't be farther from the truth with Lightning being happy, but it wasn't really her place to say anything on the matter. Sighing, she scratched at her cheek awkwardly while taking another look around the kitchen. But once her gaze fell back onto Snow, Fang shifted uncomfortably where she stood and mustered up some courage to open her mouth. "Snow?"

She waited until he lifted his head again to look at her, before continuing. "...Is Lightning goin' to be comin' to the party?"

The look he gave her was unsure, and he could only shrug his shoulders while placing the knife down on the counter. "We're not sure if she will or not. Serah has called her phone a few times, and we've both left her messages too.. Lightning hasn't gotten back to either of us, so I honestly don't know what to tell you, Fang." He turned around and leaned back against the counter, and folded her arms against his chest. "She may just be busy with work, but who even knows right now?"

Well at least she felt a_ little_ better knowing Lightning may not come at all, but it still had her worried that she wouldn't even answer her phone for Serah. Could the soldier be faring worse with her emotions than she originally thought? Or was actually just too busy with work for once? There wasn't a way to know just yet, and Fang was still sure being near Lightning anytime soon wouldn't be wise. Hell, she wasn't even sure what she would say to the woman if she _had_ been coming. For a brief moment, Fang stood there and prayed to Lady Luck for the second time in two days to be on her side with this whole mess.

"Anyway... I need to get goin'. Vanille asked me to stop by after I was done here, sayin' she would need some help bringin' her food. So I'll jus' see ya when I get back, alright?" Fang smiled when he nodded her way, and turned back around to finish cutting the meat. "Be sure to be quick about it! Serah wants to kick things off in 40 minutes or so." Snow called over his shoulder, right before he heard the huntress walk into the hallway. The faint sound of the door opening and shutting could be heard a moment later, signaling Fang had left for her sister's home.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

An hour later; with 15 minutes added because a certain red head couldn't make up her mind, finally found the sister pulsians walking up to the front door with food in tow.

"Still can't believe ya made me do all that runnin' around.." Fang grumbled, while the younger female knocked on the door with her free hand. Vanille then looked up at her with the biggest pouty face ever. "But Fang! I needed only the _best_ for Serah, you know this!"

Fang groaned, and shifted the four tubs of grilled Azora fish in her arms. Vanille had wanted the best selected fish she could buy, and ended up making her older sister run around New Bodhum's market to find them. Thanks to Lady Luck, and perhaps the fact she was a Yun, Fang was able to get 3 pounds of the best quality fish gil could buy for Vanille to cook the Dia way. It didn't mean she was happy about having to do it though.

The door opened a few seconds later, revealing a casually dressed Snow holding a beer in his right hand." Heya girls! It's about time you got here. Serah kept asking me if you were coming or not."

"They're here?" A familiar voice squeaked loudly from somewhere behind Snow. "Yeah, they're here, Serah. I told you not to worry too much, remember?" He was easily pushed to the side by the younger Farron, who gave him a dirty look before turning her attention to Fang and Vanille. "It's so good to see you guys!" Serah smiled, and stepped forward to give the younger pulsian a hug first. But as she was going to give Fang a hug, she stopped cold in her tracks and stared at the left side of her face.

"Fang! Oh my god... You look terrible. What happened?" She asked softly, while reaching over and resting her hand on Fang's shoulder. The huntress flinched a little at the contact, and glanced at Snow from the corners of her eyes as if asking for help. Thankfully he got the message, and gently tugged on Serah's arm. "Hey, hey! They just got here, you know? Let them get settled in before you start bombarding them with questions, baby."

"Oh.. Fair enough, I guess." Serah went silent for a moment, but her gaze moved to the containers of food Fang was holding onto. "Did you make all that, Vanille?" Her eyes went a fraction wider, the excitement in her features more than obvious that her friend had gone through so much trouble for her.

"Course I did!" Vanille reached for the things of fish, and Fang handed them over, though carefully to make sure her sister wouldn't drop them. "Wanna show me where to put them, Serah?" The young roseate just beamed a smile, and led Vanille down the hall towards the kitchen. Fang lingered by the door still, watching them until they were both out of her sight before turning to Snow.

They stared at each other for a few minutes, before jade eyes glanced down at the beer in his hand and back to his face. "Ya got any colds one left?" Snow just nodded with his head over to the large living room, where plenty of people were chatting and having fun. "Yeah, there's a cooler sitting on the table all the way on the other side of the room."

"_Thank Eden.._" Fang mumbled, waving him off as she stepped into the other room. Much to her dismay, quite a few people took notice of her entering and paused to gawk. A bit of hushed whispering surrounded her as she slowly walked to the table in the back. She ignored it for the most part, though some of their wild speculations made her twitch involuntarily. One group of younger females assumed she had gotten hurt during work; and while this didn't bother Fang in the least, part of her kind of wished it _had_ been the case. As for another smaller group of men, they were going on how she was just doing it for attention, and various other things that made no sense to her.

Too bad all their guesses couldn't have been farther from what had truly happened.

_Hmph... Cocoonians an' their damn gossip._

Glad that she didn't have to actually talk to anyone at this party, she just grabbed two bottles of chilled beer and turned around. Fang then shot a few of the people who's eyes were still glued on her a glare, and kept at it until everyone had looked away and stopped paying her attention.

Grumbling under her breath, Fang moved over to a far corner where no one else was at, and slumped into a black recliner to get comfortable. No time was wasted in cracking open one of her bottles, and bringing it to her lips to take a few swigs. With a somewhat satisfied sigh, she leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.

_Suppose this is goin' a lil bit better than I thought it would... Least no one is buggin' me._ As if triggered by that thought alone, her head tilted slightly to the left and a single jade eye peered at the crowds of people. Not one person met her gaze, and the pulsian preferred it that way. That bottle was brought back to her lips again, and the rest of the liquid poured over her tongue in one go.

Just as Fang had placed her empty bottle on the floor near her feet, she noticed a flash of pink moving her way from the corner of her eye. "..Fang?" She looked up in time to see Serah hovering a few feet away, arms folded behind her back as her fingers fidgeted together. Fang raised a brow, while popping open her second beer of the night. "—Yeah? What can I do for ya, lil Farron?"

"Do you mind if I sit here and talk to you for a bit?" Serah asked softly, while eyeing the chair next to the older woman. Fang cast a glance at it too, but motioned with her hand for her to sit down. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind a bit of company anyway."

An appreciative smile swept over her face, while Serah stepped around the table and sat down. "It's nice to see you around, Fang.. I feel like it's been ages since we've talked." Her azure orbs met the pulsian's single sage, before Fang tore her gaze away to stare at the bottle in her hand. "..I know, an' 'm sorry for not bein' around much. Work has been keepin' me busy lately, as 'm sure ya heard by now."

A small silence fell between them after that; neither truly knowing what to say the the other, until Fang finally spoke up again to shatter the quiet. "Serah, I want to apologize for missin' the weddin' the other day.. I feel horrible about it, but I had to fill in for someone while it was goin' on.. Hope ya can forgive me."

Serah just shook her head, and lightly touched the back of Fang's hand. "Don't worry about it. I know you would have come if you could have, and that's enough for me. Besides! You still came to the party, and I think that more than makes up for it."

Lightning's sister truly was a saint, Fang decided then, and the urge to just reach over and hug the girl was overwhelming. She had been sure that Serah would have been upset over missing the wedding, but relief flooded her system now that it was clear it wasn't being held against her.

"Hey, Fang?" The huntress pulled herself from her thoughts, and looked back over at Serah. "What is it?" She asked, while managing to get a few more swigs in of her beer, despite those crystal blue eyes on her that could pierce into her very soul if they wished it. Damn these Farrons and their intense staring.

"...Lightning did that to you, didn't she?" Serah said in a calm tone, while pointing a finger towards the bandaged area on her face. Fang went rigid in her seat, wondering _how_ she had even figured it out without having been told anything yet.

"That's a good guess.. How did ya figure it was her?" Fang was genuinely interested in this, and thus sat up straight to turn her body to face Serah more. Her face scrunched up in confusion however, when all she got was a round of laughter from the young roseate. "Eh? What's so damn funny?"

"Oh come on, Fang! Who are you kidding here? There's not a single person in New Bodhum dumb, or even brave enough, to hit a Yun besides my sister. And the fact that it's your face that got hit, practically _screams_ it was Lightning as well."

Fang just sat there, looking like she had just been hit by a velocycle by the stunned expression etched onto her face. She stared at Serah for a long moment, before breaking out into a soft chuckle. "Damn.. Ya got a good point there, ya know that? That woman ain't scared of anythin', is she?"

Or so everyone thought, anyway.

Fang had to wonder if anyone else knew Lightning's true feelings on Serah getting married, or how lost the soldier seemed now. She wanted to find out badly, but what if no one else really did know? Lightning was a master at hiding her inner turmoil, to where even her sister had a hard time of knowing things plaguing her sister.

That begged another question; why was it so hard for Lightning to let someone in? To help her and ease whatever pain she was feeling? It would be so much better, instead of drinking her problems away.

_Not that 'm doin' any better at the moment.._

Fang snickered at her inner comment, and got a weird look from Serah once she had. She was quick to shake her head, and give her a smile. "It's nothin'. Was jus' thinkin' bout somethin' is all."

Right before Serah could ask her what it had been, Vanille came bounding into the room towards them and flopped onto the small sofa across from her and Fang. "Hiya!" She giggled, and scooted over a tad so Snow, who had come after her, could sit next to her.

"Was wonderin' where ya two disappeared off to." Fang huffed out, while tipping her bottle back and consuming the last half of her second beer. She tapped her nails on the side of the glass, right before looking to Vanille and waving it in the air a bit. "Think ya can grab me another beer or two, Vanille?"

"Well..." Vanille nervously glanced over towards Snow, then to Serah; whom both gave her a concerned look. The next thing Fang knew, they were all staring at her.

"We want to talk to you first, Fang." Snow spoke up, though shutting up just as quick as he had started from the glare the huntress gave him. He decided then and there to leave the talking to the women.

"Eh? An' what would it be exactly, that requires all of ya to corner me like this?" Fang hissed slightly, giving them all a suspicious look.

"Fang, it's nothing bad, I promise!" Serah spoke up, hands hovering in the air above her chest and making a 'calm down' motion towards Fang. She grumbled a bit under her breath, but leaned back into her recliner. "Fine. What is it ya wanna talk about?"

"We want to talk to you about Lightning." The trio watched Fang cringe at the topic. That was the_ last_ thing she had wanted to hear. Wasn't coming to the party part of the whole; let's not talk about Lightning for a night thing, or did Vanille and Snow forget that?

Fang just glowered at the lot of them, and stayed silent. After looking over at Vanille as if for confirmation, Serah took the pulsian's silence as an okay to continue.

"I know you'd like to think none of us have noticed, but the truth is we all know about how you feel about my sister, Fang." That caught the brunette's attention, and she immediately locked her gaze Serah's own - though still not moving to say anything. "It's... More than obvious in the way you watch her too." Serah stifled a small laugh though, and smiled at Fang. "To be honest, when I first noticed it? I thought I was seeing things, but after talking with Snow and Vanille... We realized months ago you liked Lightning in _that_ way."

"Oi, jus' stop it right there, missy." Fang interrupted her finally, and waved a hand dismissively in the air at Serah. "Doesn't matter if I like the woman or not.. After gettin' punched in the face the other day, I realized there's no way she'd ever.. You know, return those feelings. Her walls are damned near impregnable, an' I've been tryin' to get pass them for nearly a year now... Lot of good that did me." Her voice trailed off angrily, while her left hand came up to rest itself over her eye.

"I can't keep doin' this, guys. My pride can't take another beatin' like that again.." Tossing the empty bottle onto the floor with her previous one, Fang sighed heavily and resorted to staring at the carpeted floor underneath her feet. "At this point, it'd prolly be best for everyone if I jus' called it quits an' gave up."

Vanille and Serah exchanged worried looks. "But Fang.. That doesn't mean you should give up, you know? I think you just need to talk to Lightning, and sort everything out." Serah nodded at what the red head had said, before adding; "I agree.. You can't work this whole mess out if you keep on avoiding her like the plague."

Fang lifted her head just to sneer at them both. "She's the one who's avoiding people like the plague, not me. If she won't even talk to you or Snow, what makes you think Lightning will talk to _me_?"

That shut Serah up relatively quick.

It was completely true though, and that fact alone hurt in a dozen different ways, more-so than Fang would ever realize. "You're right, Fang.. I'm sorry we bothered you with this. I just figured if anyone could get through to her, it would be you." With a small sigh, the young Farron got up from her seat and started walking away to go check on her guests.

Snow watched her go sadly, and mumbled a small apology to Fang as well before getting up to join his wife.

Vanille on the other hand stayed where she was, looking utterly helpless. "I wish we could do something for Serah.. It must hurt an awful lot for her sister to be ignoring her."

"It prolly does.." Fang murmured, and for the first time that day looked truly disheartened by the situation as she looked over to Vanille. "I don't think any of us can do much of anythin' about it though... It's somethin' the Farrons need to deal with on their own."

"But what if they don't..?" Vanille asked, with bits of sadness mixing in with her words.

Fang could only frown and shake her head. Even she didn't know what the future held for the pair, but she severely hoped a rift wouldn't tear the sisters apart more than the wedding already had.


	6. Chapter 6

Barely reaching the fifth hour into the party, and things were going full swing. More friends of the newlywed couple showed up during that time, and promptly filled most of the huge living room with chatter. The front door was wide open as well, as some of the people had spilled outside onto the yard and were partaking in a few friendly sports - which Snow had the pleasure of leading.

Fang on the other hand, had confined herself to that recliner and refused to budge for anything. There were too many people around now; and the number of looks coming her way was increasing by each passing minute, much to her dismay.

She was only thankful for the fact everyone was more interested in the party itself, than to bother walking over and trying to talk to her about the blasted eye. Fang was still tempted to leave though, but knew better than to try sneaking out after having promised Serah she'd stay til the end.

"I'm back, Fang~!" Vanille called out towards the older pulsian, while pushing past a few people here and there before flopping down in the seat next to Fang.

"I can see that." The huntress replied, while turning her head to glance out the window where Snow and a few of his friends were goofing around. "So... How was his lil toast or whatever? I couldn't hear him in here, but I still watched." It was really only for a lack of nothing better to do, but it had been amusing at least from what she witnessed.

"Oh! It was great!" Vanille leaned over the side of her chair, and rested her elbows on the black leather of the recliner's arm. She seemed really into this topic, and Fang was sure she was about to get every little detail shoved at her. It honestly didn't bother her; as long as Vanille was having fun, that was all that mattered to her.

"Snow started off by thanking everyone for coming out to the party, and then talked about how lucky he was to have found Serah. It was all so sweet!" Vanille's eyes were practically sparkling as she spoke, and Fang just rolled her eye at how exciteable the younger girl was when romance was involved.

"Not sure I'd call it _sweet_ though. If ya ask me, Snow sure looked pretty damn wobbly standin' on that table they dragged out there. Coulda swore he would have fallen off it too." Fang chuckled softly, and cast a quick look out the window where their friend was running around clumsily. "Startin' to think he's had one too many beers too, ya know? I mean look at that big goof out there.."

Vanille joined Fang in staring outside, and watching the odd sport being played out by the two groups of men. Neither of them understood the rules, but they did know it had something to do with keeping the ball away from the other team for as long as possible. Points were seemingly given by the number of 30 second intervals passed while holding onto the ball, beyond that though the rules varied by who played. This game seemed to be relatively rough, as was noted by how people were getting tackled left and right into the ground.

Cocoonian males were truly into some _weird_ games.

"So, anyway~" Vanille resumed facing Fang, with a wide grin set onto her face. "Despite all the beers he had, I think his toast was good." A pale finger came up to her chin, and she lightly tapped against it in thought for a moment. "You know... I'm surprised Serah didn't say anything afterwards though, you know.. Since they're now married and all that. I was so sure she would too. Then again, she hasn't been looking that well either.."

Fang just rolled her shoulder in a slight shrug, "Think so? Maybe she's jus' a lil worn out from the party, Vanille. I mean, it can't be easy maintainin' order with so many people about, an' havin' ya spouse on the verge of bein' totally drunk along with that."

Vanille seemed to think on this for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders as well and getting back to telling Fang everything about the toast. Despite how eager the red head was about it, Fang wasn't truly interested in it so she pretended to listen for the time being - but her mind was elsewhere.

The huntress _did_ catch a few words here and there, and of course nodded whenever Vanille poked and asked if she was listening. Her attention was mostly directed towards the window though, and watching the men fool around.

At some point, Vanille had stopped speaking and was looking towards the front hall. Fang had missed it due to being more than a little zoned out, but there had been faint knocking on the open door to the house. The younger pulsian watched as Serah came running down the hall from the kitchen, and immediately pulled the person who met her halfway into a hug; _Lightning_.

"Sis! I'm so glad you came... I was beginning to worry. You didn't answer any of my calls or texts, and no one knew where you were either.." Serah squeezed her sister even tighter, and buried her face into Lightning's shoulder.

While resting her chin on Serah's head, the soldier let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Serah.. I just needed some time to my self, after getting today off duty. It wasn't my intent to make you worry, especially during your own party.. Some things did keep me from contacting you though yesterday, and I'm sorry for that as well."

Lightning pulled away after a bit more of hugging her sister close, and lightly poked the younger girl's forehead. "I'm here now though, right?" A small smile graced her lips, once Serah nodded in agreement and motioned towards the party going on around them. "Feel free to join in whenever, Claire. I know a few people were looking for you."

_...Looking for me?_

The roseate gave Serah a weird look, but it was deflected easily when the girl slipped away and back into the kitchen, leaving Lightning to stand there awkwardly.

Vanille saw this as an opening, and quickly hopped onto the couch right across from where Fang was sitting. She leaned over the back of the sofa, and waved over to Lightning to try and get her attention. "Hiya, Light!"

Upon hearing her sister pulsian speak the soldier's name, Fang stiffened in her seat but refused to look in Vanille's direction. _Oi... Ya gotta be shittin' me. She actually came?_ Suddenly staring out the window became the most fascinating thing ever to her.

Lightning turned her body a fraction, as beryl hues rested on the cheerful face of Vanille who looked more than happy to see her. "—Hey, Vanille." She offered a faint smile, and a slight wave of her hand in return. Though her gaze slowly drifted behind the girl, to fixate on Fang; and more importantly the gauze patch covering part of her face.

_I didn't think she'd be here..._

Now if it hadn't been for Snow stumbling inside and bumping into her just then, Lightning probably would have kept staring until the huntress would have taken notice of her.

"Sorry bout that, sis." Snow flashed her a lopsided grin, and patted her on the shoulder. "Glad you made it though!" Lightning rolled her eyes, and lifted her right hand up to flick his own away from her shoulder. The gesture caused the blonde to pause a moment, before he went right back to patting her other shoulder instead.

"C'mon! You need to _lighten_ up, Lightning, and join the party.." Snow started to laugh like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard or said. "You get it, right? Lighten up?"

Lightning didn't think twice about jabbing him in the side with her elbow, and let out a satisfied huff when he whined at being hit. "—You should stop with the lame jokes, and get back to hosting your party. Don't you think?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm goin' already, geez." Snow turned to leave back out the front door, but stopped and looked over his shoulder at Lightning. "Being serious though, Light. Loosen up a bit, it'll do you some good." And with that said, the blonde left to return to his group of friends.

Azure eyes watched him go, though Lightning didn't even try to cover up the frown that had settled onto her face. _Do me some good? Yeah right..._ If he had been annoying when he was sober, Snow was at least twice as much when alcohol was involved. How her sister put up with it was beyond her.

Lightning turned back to face the main living room, and the dozens of people scattered about and conversing. She had never been much of a party person, but since it was for Serah there was nothing to do but grin and bear it. A few people warmly greeted her as she stepped into the room, and even more gave her a look of recognition before returning to their idle chatter. Of course everyone _knew_ who she was, but it did little to keep the awkward feeling from settling into her being.

Reaching the table with the various snacks and cooler full of drinks, she just let her eyes settle onto the beers and wander from one label to the next. Lightning hadn't had a drink in over 36 hours, due to being preoccupied with a certain night's events that she couldn't recall still. While beer wasn't her preferred alcoholic drink of choice either, it was better than nothing after a long day of paperwork that she hadn't finished from the day before due to some unforeseen things happening.

The roseate turned around on the spot, while popping open her bottle of beer, and glanced over towards where Vanille and Fang were still seated. The younger of the pair had flipped around on the couch, and was now staring quite intently at the brunette across from her. Fang on the other hand... Was still looking out that window, as if oblivious to everything around her. Lightning was tempted to go over to them; to try and strike up a conversations at least, or ask Fang how her eye was.

But Lightning knew better than to do so, especially when the huntress was making it a big deal to ignore the fact she was even there.

Looking over to her left, Lightning scanned a few of the small groups lingering around the room. No one she really knew, though it was to be expected although a few people did look a tad familiar. It wasn't until her gaze settled on the back of the room, that she caught a glimpse of two taller guys and a younger woman beckoning her over to them. Hesitating for a mere moment, Lightning looked the trio over before recognizing them as a few of the new recruits she had been supervising within the last few weeks.

"Miss Lightning! It's a pleasure to see you, as always." The three of them greeted her in unison, standing straight as well while saluting her. Lightning could only smile and hold up her free hand in a halting motion. "Formalities aren't necessary here, it's just a party. Though I'm curious why you'd be here of all places.."

"Oh, that's no big deal." The male closest to her spoke up; Bryan was his name, if she recalled correctly. "Mr. Villiers had been up at Headquarters the other day, and said anyone who wanted to come, could stop by today."

"Of course, not everyone could come as you know... Since there have been quite a few disturbances in the city lately, making patrols need a few extra men. But a few of us managed to get off, so we came here to relax." Anne, the smaller blonde chimed in after Ryan and shuffled closer to Lightning. "Been meaning to ask you something though, Sergeant Farron.. Is it true you took out that huge group of thugs by yourself the other day?"

Lightning could only inwardly sigh at the question, wondering how fast the news had gotten out that she had done it. Truthfully, she had just been walking aimlessly through town and ended up in a gang's territory, but they had made the mistake of pissing her off more than she already had been at that point.

Suffice to say, many of them ended up in the hospital with severe injuries.

Amodar on the other hand, had been thoroughly pleased by her performance of dealing with one of their bigger problems as of late - single-handly on top of that. Due to her efforts, he had given her the day off _with_ pay which was rare, even for her.

"—Yeah, it's true." Just in her confirmation of the deed, the recruits broke out into excited chatter amongst themselves. Lightning stared at them curiously for a time, even nodding her head when a question was directed towards her once more. Eventually her eyes wandered over to the other side of the room, and settled on Fang.

Vanille, who had still been watching her sister pulsian like a hawk, seemed to notice Lightning's attention being drawn in their direction. The roseate had already turned her gaze back towards Anne and her comrades by then, but the red head let her own eyes linger on Lightning.

"You know, she was looking at you a second ago, Fang.." Vanille whispered, so only the huntress could hear her. "_Eh_? So she'll stare at me from the other side of the room, but won't even man up an' come over to apologize? _Figures_." Fang scoffed, and refused to tear her eyes away from the window she had been staring out of for the last half hour.

"Maybe she doesn't know how to say it..?" Vanille was starting to really hope that was the case, because she hated seeing her friends acting this way towards each other. Fang and Lightning had been close friends for many months now, but this little fight - or _whatever_ they wanted to call it - was beginning to get ridiculous. She just wished there was a way to remedy the situation, though already knew it wasn't her place to get involved.

"Oh!" Vanille squeaked softly, after having caught Lightning looking at Fang again from the corners of her eyes. "Faaaang... She did it again!"

"So? I really don't care if she keeps lookin' or not." Fang finally turned her head to face her sister pulsian, and crinkled her nose in an annoyed display. "Doesn't make much of a difference anyway, since she isn't botherin' to actually come over here herself."

"I guess that's a good point.." Vanille replied softly, while toying with the many bracelets covering her wrists. Her thoughts wandered off, while Fang went back to being more than content to stare out that window.

Was it really that hard for the two of them to put their pride away, and just talk things out? If this kept on much longer, Vanille was sure the two of them would never speak again. Granted, Fang probably shouldn't have kissed Lightning while she was drunk, and had behemoth blood in her system as well that night... But that didn't give the soldier the right to hit Fang to begin with, even if she was upset over what had happened.

Why did everything have to be so darn complicated anyway? Vanille knew Fang was suffering, more than anyone could truly ever understand, just because of how much she cared for the Farron. It had been _more_ than obvious to those around them how she felt too, so why was it that Lightning hadn't taken notice yet? Or on the off-chance she had, why hadn't she bothered to say anything?

It left Vanille baffled, and she was already getting a small headache from trying to think up a solution to get them back to being friendly.

Fang shifted in her recliner, and looked over Vanille's head towards the front hall that led into the kitchen. "—Hey, Vanille? Do ya know if there are any grilled azoras left in the kitchen?" She inquired, while getting off her seat and stretching slightly. The brunette took a few steps around the low table, and purposely kept her back towards Lightning the whole time.

"Hmm.. I think so! I made so much, remember? So there's bound to be some left! We should go look~" Vanille easily shoved all her previous thoughts away, to focus on the task of getting some food in her belly. She reached out and grabbed Fang by the wrist, and gently pulled her towards the hall.

Fang didn't seem to mind that much though, and was frankly glad to be getting out of the roseate's sight. There was so much tension between them while being in the same room, and she had no real plan on going back in there any time soon. _Etro_, if she was lucky she could stay in the kitchen for the rest of the party, and not have to deal with Lightning just yet.

Then again, she doubted there would be an easy way out of talking to Lightning, given how they both were_ finally_ in the same place for once. Fang could only hope there would be enough time to think of what to say, before that inevitable chat came to pass.


End file.
